Team basics:

We are excited your considering to join our team! We here ar Run 4 Life are an Iredell County based running club designed for homeschool and non-representedathletes in Iredell County from 6 th -12 th grade. Our team will introduce student athletes to the basics of running + competing in Cross Country events, and foster long term team development at the same time.

The cost is $50 per athlete, if cost is a barrier please speak up and we will work with you no questions asked. Uniform tops are an additional cost and are $28-$34 each. Our color scheme willfollow closely the Love Life organization linked here

***For uniform shorts I recommend something black, like these examples for modesty and uniformity. ***

Girls

https://www.academy.com/p/bcg-girls-run-knit-wb-2-in-1-running-shorts?sku=caviar-caviar-small

Boys

BCG Boys' 2 in 1 Shorts | Academy

Athlete Expectations:

Athletes are expected to practice Christlike behavior at all times, walking in the fruit of the Spirit.

Cross country is a team sport. Although our athletes are gifted with different levels of natural ability, we expect all of them to work hard to develop their skills for the good of the team, and also to encourage and cheer one another during practices and meets. Our coaches will strive to instruct, challenge, and encourage your athlete, but you and your child are ultimately responsible for developing their motivation to participate, to work hard, and to excel according to their ability.

Athletes are expected to supplement team practices with runs on their own. Beginning runners should run at least three days per week, and experienced runners should run at least five days per week. Runners are expected to rest at least one day each week and also to practice a reasonable balance of high– and low–intensity running. Athletes may cross–train with other sports or activities but should carefully consider how this impacts their running.

Young children: Athletes who are younger than middle–school age are welcome to participate on the team. However, although we encourage and remind our athletes to run with a buddy, we cannot guarantee that your child will be able to find a buddy at their running pace, especially if they are not able to run for the entire time. You should also understand that some competitive events may exclude runners younger than middle school age. If you can accept these limitations, your child is welcome to participate in our team.

Parent expectations

Parents are expected to practice Christlike behavior at all times, walking in the fruit of the Spirit.

We ask parents to volunteer for routine race responsibilities such as providing water and snacks. Some races ask us to provide volunteers for race–specific needs such as timers and course observers, and we ask parents to volunteer for these responsibilities as well.

God has always graciously provided enough parents and graduates who are willing to coach, but we do not presume upon this gift and are always grateful for additional help. Please reach out to the coaches if you are interested in helping to coach.

Thank you for your enthusiastic support for your child and for the team!

Practices

Practice is not mandatory but is strongly encouraged, if your family has a commitment across town or across state, please don’t break your neck to get to our practice. Our practices are typically on Mondays and Thursday evenings as well as Saturday mornings on non race weekends.

Practice fundamentals:

1) Come to practice hydrated with proper nutrition already consumed, properly dressed for running, and with a positive attitude.

2) Practice will be a full team effort and you will have fun, our goal is to engage all the athletes and make running fun while bringing honor to God all while respecting others.

3) Our training intensity will build over time and is designed for the athletes to follow the trainingschedule to achieve maximum physical results. It would embarrass God, the athlete, and our team if someone isn’t coming to the meets physically prepared. Parents this is where we need your help, please help to keep your athlete accountable.

4) LISTEN TO YOUR BODIES!!! If something hurts, do not run on it. Seek medical attention, I am not a doctor nor do I want you to think that I am.

5) Please be flexible and pay attention to our communication portal “Team Snap” for any updates, practice or race changes or any team needs that may arise.

6) We cannot guarantee every runner that comes to practice will be able to run in our meets. Some teams do not allow younger elementary children to race. All children ages 8 and above are welcome to run with our team but again they may not all get to compete. If your child is close to the 8 year old age limit please talk to the coaches to see if they might “try it” and see if it works for all parties involved.

Practice locations and details:

Block 1 is designed to build a fitness base and begin to build endurance and strength.

Location-Statesville Park and Soccer Complex Simonton Rd, Statesville, NC 28625 (drop off and pickup at

playground)

Block 2 is designed to continue to build strength, increase endurance and begin to introduce speed workouts (intervals).

Location-Mac Anderson Park 433 N Race St, Statesville, NC 28677 (drop off and pickup near the

bathrooms)

Block 3 will build on all the other blocks and include elements from each. This is our fine tuning block, we will work on items based on performance at the meet and how

the athletes are responding to training.

Location- Mac Anderson Park 433 N Race St, Statesville, NC 28677 (drop off and pickup near the

bathrooms)

Attire

Girls are expected to wear a cover over their sports bras during practices and races.

Boys may remove their shirts while running but should wear them at all other times.

For competition, all runners are expected to wear our team uniform. This includes:

• Solid black running shorts (no stripes) or skorts

• Our team jersey

A Note on shoes:

Yes, you most certainly could go to Kohl’s, Academy, or Dicks Sporting Goods to purchase running shoes and those would be a good option. Having run a lot in my lifetime I recently broke down and purchased a higher end custom running shoe for right around $130 at a running shoestore. I now feel like I am running on pillows and highly recommend you doing the same for your children. Depending on their size, the following store should be able to help you out and will offer 10%off for all shoes purchased. Please call ahead and remember your child’s body is worth a few more dollars.

Charlotte Running Company Lake Norman-146 Mooresville Commons Way suite i, Mooresville, NC 28117

704-799-1400

Health and injury

All Cary Fire coaches are volunteer parents or recent Cary Fire graduates; none of the coaches have medical training. We strive to give common–sense advice and help to our runners. We seek to challenge them to expand their capacity and to exceed perceivedlimits, which includes discomfort. Please work with the coaches if your child encounters pain or other limitations, but you should also understand that none of the advice we provide is qualified medical advice or is able to fully account for your child’s specific needs, condition, or limitations. You are ultimately responsible to determine and direct an appropriate training program for your child, and to determine appropriate rest and recovery plans if your child is injured.

Our practices vary in time and distance. For races, a typical distance for middle school is between 3km (1.86mi) and 2 miles. High school races will almost always be 5km, which is approximately 3.1 miles.

Our earliest races take place in August. We are thankful for the preparation these races provide for our fall races, but the late summer races can be very hot. Hydration is always important but is especially important for these races, and this includes hydration the day before the race as well as the day of the race. Heat exhaustion is always a possibility and you and your runner should be aware of your runner’s limits and needs.

Remediation

Cary Fire coaches reserve the right to remove families and athletes from the team without refund if, at our sole discretion, we believe you or your athlete are undermining our mission and work.Running Shoe Resource-

Competitive Meets-

Our schedule will include meets beginning mid August and ending roughly mid-October. All of our meets will be within :90 minutes of the Lake Norman area. All meet results are posted to nc.milesplit.com

To see the full season calendar click here

Team Communication-

All team communication will be relayed through the TeamSnap App. Please make sure to fill out our registration form so that you can be added to the Teamsnap website forteam communications. Teamsnap will have our practice, meet, and team event schedule. It is imperative to follow Teamsnap and utilize the features within the app to stay up to date. The team coaches and director do not have time to call each individual family so this app allows us to easily reach all families in one communication portal. If a practice needs to be cancelled due to inclement weather the call to cancel will be made 2 hours in advance through Teamsnap.